Many writers will tell you that the key to success is to write, write, write and write some more. But sometimes you need a break from the ten thousand word description of the hero’s beautifully sculpted eyebrows in your latest space opera epic, and just want to write something fun.

Enter the writing prompt.

A writing prompt is just that, it gives you a place to start writing and let your creativity flow. In general, they are used to practice. To help you stay in the habit of writing when your own inspiration has (temporarily) dried up.

There’s been plenty of discussion around whether they are a good thing or a distraction from the “serious business” of writing your masterwork. At Zealot Script we believe that writing is fun, should be fun, and very rarely should be taken seriously. So bring on the writing prompts!

There are some great communities around the internet for those looking for regular writing prompts and practice, not least of which is Reddit’s r/writingprompts with a frankly ridiculous 13.2 million subscribers. There are some excellent writers who regularly respond to prompts over there, so take the time to check it out!

We’ve put together a list of some of our favourites from the subreddit, let us know if they inspire you to get something written down!

They say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time. What they don’t say is that in between those deaths, you get stuck in purgatory with all the great philosophers and authors – all just waiting to die.

Dwarves are notorious for their love of alcohol. One day a dwarf goes sober and discovers it grants them amazing powers such as being able to remember what happened the night before.

You are Death, but in a post-apocaliptic world. Only a few survivors remain, and you’re doing everything you can to help them because if the last human dies, you die as well. The survivors can’t see you, but they feel your presence and noticed your effort. They started to call you Life.

In order to get a shot at going to Valhalla, you must die with a weapon in your hands. You just died and are now sitting in front of Odin’s advisory board as they discuss whether a spatula actually counts.

At the age of twelve you started randomly seeing a green line and a red line appear on the ground. You always followed the green line and have lived a successful and happy life. Ten years later you are on top of the world, but bored. Time to see where the red line leads.

One day, time just suddenly stops for a short moment for you. At first, you tried to mess around, but after the 246th times it happened, you start to realise that your power is not stopping time, but being able to move in time frozen by another person in the world.

You never kill the spiders in your home, you just whisper “today you, tomorrow me” when you set them outside. Now, in your most dire moment, an army of spiders arrives to have your back.

Earth is doomed in a matter of years, but you are bestowed with a mystical dagger that causes anyone killed by it to instantly resurrect on an alternate Earth that does not share the same fate. In one world you are revered as a hero, on the other the most notorious serial killer of all time.

When you’re 28, science discovers a drug that stops all effects of aging, creating immortality. Your government decides to give the drug to all citizens under 26, but you and the rest of the “Lost Generations” are deemed too high-risk. When you’re 85, the side effects are finally discovered.

Your entire life, you’ve been told you’re deathly allergic to bees. You’ve always had people protecting you from them, be it your mother or a hired hand. Today, one slips through and lands on your shoulder. You hear a tiny voice say “Your Majesty, what are your orders?”

Due to your nerdy great great great great grandfather in 2017 ‘buying a star’ and some modern legal shenanigans you are now the proud owner of a small intergalactic empire

Your ability to see people’s age in years as an invisible number above their heads has made you the perfect bouncer. One day you see a four digit number.

Whenever you speak, people hear you speaking in their native language. Most people are surprised and delighted. The cashier at McDonalds you’ve just talked to is horrified. “Nobody’s spoken that language in thousands of years.”

It’s 3 AM. An official phone alert wakes you up. It says “DO NOT LOOK AT THE MOON”. You have hundreds of notifications. Hundreds of random numbers are sending “It’s a beautiful night tonight. Look outside.”

When you die, you appear in a cinema with a number of other people who look like you. You find out that they are your previous reincarnations, and soon you all begin watching your next life on the big screen.